The profile of women’s darts has soared in recent years thanks to the exploits of players like Fallon Sherrock and Beau Greaves.
Sherrock famously shattered the glass ceiling in 2019 by becoming the first woman to win matches at the PDC World Championship. In more recent times, Greaves has taken over the mantle of the best female player on the planet by winning three successive Lakeside Women’s world titles.
With reserved places at the PDC World Championship and the Grand Slam, along with the introduction of the PDC Women’s World Matchplay and the Women’s Series, there are more opportunities for female players than ever before.
With huge numbers of women taking up the sport, the conveyor belt of talent is becoming busier, so expect to see some less familiar names lighting up the Women’s Series when it holds its first tournaments of the year in Leicester on February 15 and 16.
Sky Sports and PDC reporter and commentator Abigail Davies will be on duty at most Women’s Series events this year. She is expecting big things from 16-year-old Paige Pauling, who enjoyed a spectacular 2024, winning a host of tournaments, including the WDF Girls’ World Championship at the Lakeside. Overall, she already has more than 40 titles to her name.
“Honestly, she is unbelievable,” said Davies. “She’s not at Beau’s level yet. But she is the next female to get really excited about, she is so good.
“She was on the streaming board at the Women’s Series and it was the first I’d seen of her. I was so impressed by everything, her throw, her attitude, her demeanour. During a break, I went down to speak to her father and said, ‘you have to tell me about this girl’ because she was so unbelievable.
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“He was saying how she’s been able to focus on it a bit more now because she’s had to do her exams at school. Her family were keen on her continuing her education as well as playing darts.”
Pauling took up darts at the age of 11 after seeing her brother play. Her immense potential was spotted in her early teens when she was signed up to Target’s Elite 1 programme in 2022. Leading equipment manufacturer Target boasts the likes of Luke Littler, Nathan Aspinall and Rob Cross on its books.
Already this year, Pauling has retained her Dutch Open Girls’ title and beaten women’s darts icon Trina Gulliver in the MODUS Super Series. She can look forward to regular matches against one her idols, Sherrock, over the next few years.
Another young player to watch is Sophie McKinley, 18, who reached two finals at Lakeside in December, losing to Greaves in the women’s finale and Pauling in the girls’ showpiece.
At the other end of the experience spectrum, long-time women’s darts standard bearer Lisa Ashton, 54, is still going strong. The Lancashire Rose finished fifth in last year’s Women’s Series and is determined to take the fight to the likes of Greaves and Sherrock this year.
Noa-Lynn van Leuven, who recently made history by becoming the first transgender player to compete at the PDC World Championship, will be a threat, having finished runner-up behind Greaves in the 2024 Women’s Series. Japanese trailblazer Mikuru Suzuki will also be a contender.
The top two players in the Women’s Series Order of Merit at the end of the year will qualify for the PDC World Championship. However, they would have a decision to make as players cannot take part in both the PDC and WDF World Championships. Greaves has opted to play at the Lakeside rather than Ally Pally in recent years.
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